This invention relates to pillows and bedding and in particular to loose or removable cushions used as seats and backs in upholstered chairs and sofas. These loose or removable cushions are distinguished in the art from the type of cushioning or stuffing which is tied down, nailed or glued to the sofa or chair frame before being covered and upholstered as an integral part of the sofa.
The use of various types of resilient flexible foamed material for furniture cushions, throw pillows, bedding and the like is well known in the art, and such materials as latex foam rubber, and more recently polyurethane foam, were adopted for such uses as soon as the products became commercially available.
The use of soft and resilient non-woven fibrous products either alone or in conjunction with the resilient flexible foam material in the manufacture of seat and back cushions is also well known in the prior art. Thus, raw cotton batting has been used to fill out and provide additional rounded contour to blocks of polyurethan foam used in loose chair and sofa cushions. With the development of numerous synthetic non-woven fibrous materials, most of which have superior resiliency and tensile strength properties, these materials have been used in place of the cotton batting. These non-woven fibrous materials are commonly referred to as fiberfill in the industry. More recently, thin gauged polyurethane foam peelings, i.e., from 50 to 125 mils, have found use in conjunction with, or as substitutes for the soft non-woven fibrous batting materials.
In the design and manufacture of furniture having loose seat and back cushions the nature of the cushioning material effects the overall cost of the piece, as well as the subjective factors of appearance and comfort, both initially and after prolonged use. Cushions containing fiberfill alone while attractive and soft to the initial touch, provide little support when compared to foam, are easily crushed and are very expensive to produce.
Polyurethane foam alone provides neither the initially soft feel associated with fiberfill, nor its inviting appearance. The batting wrapped polyurethane foam cushion known to the prior art is inferior to the present invention because it provides too firm a final support and as the batting becomes crushed through use, little initial comfort. Moreover, when a batt of fiberfill material is wrapped around a single piece of foam for use in chair or sofa back cushions it often has a tendency to settle and slip from the position of its original installation. This slipping and settling results in a loss of the tailored look of fullness originally present in the cushions, in many instances after a relatively short period of use.